Australian Adventure

by Lynn Hurton

Well, my Australian adventure began in earnest on Saturday 20 July, when Josh the dog was despatched to kennels (and to find a lady dog of a similar age, who would be resident throughout his stay - he was in ecstasy). I duly caught the X40 coach to Stansted Airport, followed by the National Express Airport Link to Heathrow. Singapore Airlines allow one to check in up to 4 hours early, so I was soon able to say farewell to my suitcase for 26 hours and venture in search of some tea.

Four hours later I was safely ensconced in aisle seat 64G, refusing to swap to a far less desirable seat, just so the lady next to me (who'd checked in late) could be next to her husband. When one is on a plane in economy class for almost 13 hours, one cannot afford to be magnanimous! As it was, she disappeared never to return and so I had the luxury of a double seat. After a hectic school year, is it any surprise that I slept soundly for the majority of the journey?

I was in Singapore for a mere 2 1/2 hours before heading off for Melbourne. This plane was not so luxurious, but for 6 1/2 hours I really didn't care. I had an aisle seat and I fell asleep yet again. It just shows how exhausted I was at the end of the school term!

Melbourne arrived at 5.35am on Monday 22 July. I was out of the airport a mere 35 minutes later and shivering in the car of my (pen)friend Sue. It was a mere 2°C and the coldest night of the winter so far. Thankfully it was NEVER repeated during my holiday. It really was a very mild winter, with little rain, which was excellent for me, but not so for the Aussies, as the country is in the midst of a drought in many areas. So much for global warming....

Monday began with a long walk along the deserted Mordialloc beach (the suburb of Melbourne in which Sue lives). That was followed by chocolate cake & cappuccino beside a huge log fire. An afternoon nap proved beneficial, but I still slept well that night. That was the end of my jetlag. I had expected to suffer as I had in the past when visiting New Zealand, but I didn't - weird! I definitely wasn't complaining!

Tuesday was spent exploring the centre of Melbourne, as was Wednesday daytime. I had a pizza supper on that evening with Sue and two of her former workmates and sampled some delicious Australian wines. The next day saw me taking a morning tour of the Dandenong ranges (close to Melbourne) and having a ride on the Puffing Billy steam train from Belgrave to Menzies Creek. We had a brief craft stop in Sassafras en route for the City, before I treated myself to a fish and chip lunch Oz style. I had small portions, but boy was it huge!

Shopping followed, and I marvelled at the exchange rate - it made everything super cheap for the Britons. It was almost A$3 to £1 instead of the usual two. Needless to say I did not complain! It allowed my spending money to stretch far further and I was able to do far more than I'd originally intended to - BLISS! I also purchased the first of the 'few' CDs that I brought back from Oz that day. All I will say is that my collection is just a little larger now!

Friday evening saw me with three football-mad Australians, among thousands of other fans, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (otherwise known as the MCG). There was not a cricket ball in sight. I was about to be initiated into my first experience of an Aussie Rules football game. Soccer is far too tame for the Aussies. It was lovely to see whole families watching the game together and huge numbers of females there too. It certainly wasn't a male only preserve. It's fast and furious too, with no body or head padding for protection as in the USA version. The rules are incredible and I wouldn't claim to comprehend them all, but I do know that I enjoyed the experience, even though Richmond - the team for which Sue barracks - lost to old rivals Essendon by a single point. I had a pie at half-time too - a tradition apparently! It was good, that's for sure.

Saturday saw me take the train for Sydney and a marathon 13 1/2 hour epic journey. That was 11/2 hours longer than advertised, due to engineering works at Bargo. Sydney is interesting, but I preferred Melbourne of the two. It's more welcoming, less sprawling and has a nicer feel about it. But Sydney does have its good points and was an excellent base for further exploration. This included a visit to a wildlife sanctuary, where I was bowled over by both the colour and the variety. I took two rolls of film at that place and do not consider that I went OTT there. There were kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, dingos, wombats, possums, the Tasmanian devil, kookaburras, penguins, pelicans and so much more...I could have spent my whole day there, but that was followed by a luncheon cruise on Sydney harbour. I was able to take snaps of the famous Harbour Bridge and Opera House from all angles and to see so much more, not to mention have a delicious buffet lunch (as much as one could eat). A beaches and bays tour followed that afternoon, for two people only - an American lady and me! Talk about individual attention! All tours were with AAT Kings. There are discounts if one multi-books tours with them - very useful!

I ambled around Sydney under my own feet too, but it does sprawl and one can easily walk for mile after mile. I found the monorail useful for getting around many of the Central sights too.

I loved its novelty value, although the Melbourne trams are much nicer, and its red tourist tram is totally free! Sydney aquarium proved useful for a wet morning and the boat show was on during my stay, so I saw yachts in abundance - and plenty of wealthy people too. I had two day tours out from Sydney - the first to the Blue Mountains (through the mist) and the Jenolan Caves and the second to Canberra, the purpose-built capital of Oz. I actually fell in love with that city in spite of its modernity and artificiality. The views around that city are incredible too. My tour included a guided tour around the Canberra Museum and the new Parliament House, as well as a drive around Embassy Avenues. Some are very colourful and really do represent their country, whereas others are little more than a red brick building!

I travelled down to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific train. It is supposed to be one of the world's great rail journeys, but a derailment 200 kilometres west of Parkes meant that we had to travel via Melbourne and we were warned not to take long showers as there was a dearth of water! FUN! I was in first class due to the favourable exchange rate and the food and choice of it, were superb. The crowded champagne reception was another matter.

Michael Palin once did the same journey on one of his BBC trips, but he spent 3 days on the train, whereas I was glad to return to terra firma after 24 hours. I do have a certificate to say that I've been on that train, however, even if we did go on a different track to arrive at our destination, and even if I was deprived of my tour around Broken Hill - one of my main reasons for choosing this mode of transport over a much faster internal flight. Still, things can't he perfect all of the time, but one does tend to expect more from luxury.

So, Adelaide beckoned and a weekend in the company of another penpal. She'd booked me onto two tours whether I wanted to go on them or not, so I never did get the chance to explore the city. The most I saw of that place was the railway station. The tour of the Barossa Valley and the wine tasting that involved was superb, however. I was not enamoured by the Sunday harbour tour by coach and foot, though. I would have preferred to do my own thing, but not everything can be perfect in such a holiday. It was an interesting, rather than a spectacular day.

Melbourne by train followed, and a shop up and a lunch overlooking a bay with a view to die for. A plane ride with Sue from Melbourne to Launceston, Tasmania, followed. So began our epic week's tour of Tasmania by hire car. The Port Arthur ghost tour has to be the highlight, around the ruins of the 19th century convict settlement. I didn't see any ghosts, but it was very atmospheric and one can really imagine how awful the conditions were for the prisoners then. It really was totally barbaric. Tasmania is such a varied and beautiful island. We travelled and saw so much and I did my fair share of the driving too, even on unsealed roads. Thank goodness they drive on the left, as in Britain.

All too soon it was time to fly back to Melbourne, although I did not have a quiet final 5 days in Oz. I went to a reconstructed gold town and Sovereign Hill, and panned for gold; went shopping in Melbourne; was let loose on JB Hifi shop (where I'd never seen so many CDs in one shop in my life before - the choice was awesome); had a 'yummy' wine tasting tour of the Yarra valley with Sue and her friends Cate and Kim; went to an incredible old-fashioned lolly (sweet) shop where I bought musk sticks and a sherbert dip (I was in seventh heaven); had a Sunday morning breakfast out (a huge fry up) with Sue and friends Mike and Kim and Kim's 8 year old son Nicholas; tours around (and beyond) specific parts of Melbourne and generally a lot of fun. I loved experiencing shows on Oz TV too. It was time to go home.

The return journey was painless. I slept well, had no swollen ankles and had no jetlag when I got home. Don't ask me how! Maybe it was the pure euphoria of the whole experience. All I know is that I loved my holiday and have no regrets. Even at its lowest points, it was all part of life's rich tapestry and I have seen and experienced so many new things. It really was the holiday of a lifetime. I had wanted to visit Oz for so long and it was well worth the wait! I'd love to return one day, as it's such a vast land and I only saw a mere fraction of it. That'll be for the future though. For the moment, it's back to work and to reality. But I can at least dream and I do have so many beautiful memories. It was worth the three year wait for a holiday (apart from a brief sojourn in Barcelona in June) - that's for certain.

First published in VISA issue 49 (January 2003)